Bitter Melodies
by GraywatchB
Summary: A boy who wants nothing more than the magic he was promised, a girl who was thrust all unknowing into a crisis of magic. Can a fervent wish overcome these bitter thoughts? A FSN / Nanoha crossover is about to begin!
1. Chapter 1

There are infinite possibilities. For every choice made, there exists a universe where another path was taken. An infinitely branching web-work of possible universes, until one no longer resembles the other in the slightest.

But stop, cut away the dross, and focus here, a universe, a point in time and space, similar to one we're familiar with.

Watch Closely.  
Things happen a little differently this time around

* * *

Matou Kariya knew it. He had failed. He had definitely failed. The circumstances didn't matter and there was no one who cared enough to hear why. So he had failed, without exception, mitigation, or excuse.

But.

Just because he had failed, just because he couldn't accomplish his goal, didn't mean he could be allowed to stop. He had lost everything to his own damn stupidity. He couldn't get what he wanted. But maybe he could stop _him_from getting what he wanted.

A spasm of pain stopped his faltering footsteps. The worms hadn't stopped, they didn't hurt, not so much as they should, as they had, but they hadn't _stopped, _as he had wished they would. The drain was gone. Even in this state he couldn't _believe_ that he'd ever become used to the horrible, sucking drain Berserker had levied on him, but now that it was gone... like missing an arm. Not painful, but a lack of sensation, or interaction where part of him insisted there should be. Berserker had drained him dry in his last hours, and then just...gone. The worms should have stopped, it wasn't _fair_that they hadn't stopped.

Gritting his teeth he began moving again. The worms hadn't stopped. It wasn't fair. He couldn't let that matter. He had lost everything he cared about, but he'd gained something small in return. Even in death Tokiomi had been a bastard, but what Kariya had found...it might buy him a few days at the outside. More likely a few hours. The jewel, liberated from the dead man's vest and brimming with the prana he needed, burned hot in his gut, the dissipating energy now filling his limbs not _quite _compatible with his own circuits, but the worms would have to make due, pain be damned. He wouldn't gutter out just yet. He could think again, clearer than he had in days.

So he tottered into the Matou household. And there she was. The little Tohsaka girl. He wanted to smile but... the boy. His nephew was with her. He had forgotten. He hadn't seen the child in ages. His brother's son, and so one he couldn't bring himself to love. He looked so like Byakuya as a child, Kariya couldn't help but see him as brushed with the same darkness that had caused him to leave in the first place. But right now he was talking animatedly to the girl with a book in his hand and a teasing grin on his face. And the girl was red-faced, but smiling.

"Sakura" he called out, half hidden in the shadows.

"Eh?" both children turned to look.

"Ah! Uncle Kariya" the girl cried out happily turning to run toward him. He went down on one knee to receive her, his left side stiff, not cooperating, but damn it some thing were important. The boy scowled as his new playmate ignored him. Kariya felt his heart drop when the girl slowed and stopped, looking at him with a hint of fear, and lot of confusion. Of course. His face. The war, and the worms had not been kind.

"It's okay Sakura. I just ran into a little...trouble, a while ago. But I'll be fine." Still a little scared, and confused. The boy had walked up to her, and had one hand possessively on her shoulder.

"Come here Sakura." he said gently "something bad has happened. We need to leave for a little while" It was the truth. For certain values of true. Something bad happened. She did need to a leave. And it would be just for a little while. Relative to the lifespan of a star if at all possible.

She took a hesitant step forward, but the boy stepped in front of her, one hand still gripping her arm.

"Oy, Uncle. Where are you going with Sakura?" he asked scowling harder than ever. The girl winced under his grip, but the boy didn't seem to notice, glaring at Kariya like... like Kariya was taking away a new toy. Of course. Damn it but he really didn't have _time _for this.

"Your uncle has made some mistakes." he said "The old ma- Zouken already knows." He nearly choked on the honorific. He hoped it wasn't true, but he'd be damn surprised if Zouken didn't know about the loss of Berserker. "But" he continued "Now your uncle needs to get you away Sakura" The boy's expression darkened and Kariya cursed to himself. Of course. It sounded like he was just leaving the boy to die.

"And you as well Shinji" he added, a little lamely. The child's face relaxed, just a little. "Now hurry, hurry." he ushered them towards the door. It would take a little adjusting, but his plan could account for two children as well as one. And besides he supposed, even this child didn't deserve Zouken. The child after all could after all merely _look _like Byakuya.

The children walked hesitantly at first, but some quiet admonitions to hurry had them out the door quickly. Down the street a car waited. The driver was that special sort of man who was afflicted with sudden cases of memory loss when exposed to large sums of money. The car drove them swiftly through the city, to an alley. They got out and trudged through it, to find another car, and a similar man on the other side. This had been hell to arrange on the quiet, and he had no doubt someone knew, but by the end of the night even he didn't know who was driving them. Hours later they were driving out of the city. Sakura was asleep, and Shinji was nodding off, interspersed with glares at Kariya, as if denying his sleepiness.

He'd found a foster house for Sakura, friends of old friends, from people he knew before the Grail had reared it's ugly head. Sakura wasn't going 'home'. Not unless Zouken found her. He'd almost laugh. His acquaintances were going to be expecting some serious explanations on his behalf in a few days. He honestly had none. He was kidnapping two young children from their homes, because their grandfather was an abusive monstrous vampire of a magi. It was fortunate perhaps, that he'd never be around to give those explanations, and with no leads on where Sakura _should_ be...they'd be forced to either take her in, or put her up for adoption, or _something_. Anything better than what he had taken her from.

The boy though, he'd have to do something with. He couldn't ask them to take on two children instead of one. That was just too suspicious. Maybe... he clucked to himself. Why not? It's not like he'd be around long enough for it to really matter. He could just...kick about. For a few days, until it all ended. The boy could stay around. He was a child. When Kariya wasn't around...someone would take care of it. It was a fair bet the child wouldn't find his way home. Not so safe as Sakura, but...It was cruel perhaps, to expose a child to that, but Kariya could not bring himself to care. Not anymore.

* * *

Shinji glared at his freaky uncle. He wasn't tired. He wouldn't be. If his uncle could do this then Shinji wouldn't let himself be less. Besides, he looked...mean. That wasn't quite it, but he didn't know how to put it. His face was all messed up, and he had been nearly snarling and snappish when they were changing cars, and Shinji _knew _his father and grandfather didn't like his Uncle, though he wasn't sure why until tonight. It was obvious now that his uncle was a big jerk. But...he was trying to protect them? Maybe. It seemed fishy to Shinji, but then his family was full of magi, so maybe it was a magic thing? He didn't know enough yet to be sure. And...when Sakura had finally fallen asleep he'd been... gentle, in picking her up and carrying her to the next car.

She was a nuisance, and the family shouldn't have taken in an outsider in the first place. He was still unclear on why they had bothered. But then he'd read a lot about how being a magus could eat up your time. Maybe she was there to run the house and handle things like money while Shinji pursued his studies as a magus? It didn't seem quite right but...maybe. Either way she was _his_sister now, so it would have been wrong if Kariya had not been careful with her. And he'd squished himself into a corner to give Sakura room to sleep. So maybe Kariya could be nice, even if he was a jerk.

Shinji didn't notice when he dropped off to sleep. He woke up for a moment when he heard the car door open and close, but thought nothing off it, and sleep reclaimed him. He woke up again to Kariya shaking him by the shoulder.

"Wake up boy. We're here."

Blearily he looked around for a minute. The car had stopped in a little unlit street. Houses dotted the road. Sakura was-

Sakura wasn't there. He shook his head awake and glared at Kariya again. "Where's Sakura? What did you do?" he accused.

Kariya didn't bother to look at him. "Sakura's a girl Shinji, and we are in a bit of trouble. We only have one room here, so we couldn't ask a girl to sleep in a room with two boys right? Sakura's spending the night with some friends of mine. She'll be safe there. I can take you to see her tomorrow."

Shinji frowned. It didn't seem right. No, really that story was pretty lousy, but...he couldn't do anything about it for now. If Kariya really did bring Shinji to see her tomorrow maybe that would be okay. He wasn't happy but...Kariya dragged him by the hand to the house, and knocked on it. There was a brief moment before the door cracked open, and a hurried whispered conversation was held. After a few moments the door creaked open. Shinji looked up at the man behind the door, but there was nothing special about him. They were quickly led upstairs, into a small room with a large futon laid out on the floor. Shinji didn't really need any further instructions, and flopped down on it. He was asleep in seconds.

* * *

"Mmmnnn."

It was bright sunlight across his face, a clear herald of morning come. But he was warm, and comfortable, and still wrapped up in a delicious warm drowsiness, so he rolled over and tried to ignore it.

"Ah."

Shinji's eyes snapped open. He was in a strange bed in a strange room in a strange building in a strange place, and his strange uncle was curled up and twitching in the corner. He didn't know why. He scowled. That was the problem. Last night had been fear and running, and boredom and a prickling sense that if he hesitated once, just once, slowed down, or stopped to ask a question, he'd be trampled underfoot as his uncle escaped with his little sister. Who, it seemed was not here. And for all of it he didn't know _why._

He didn't know why they were running. He didn't know why his father and grandfather had been left behind. He didn't know why Uncle Kariya had taken them instead of his father. He didn't know why Sakura had been left not in just a different room, but a different place entirely. He didn't know why they had left behind the house. Wasn't a magus' workshop supposed to be his greatest stronghold!? Wouldn't Grandfather have been able to pull them in and protect them?

And he didn't know why his strange uncle was huddled in one corner, his frame wracked with occasional shudders.

"Uncle...?"

The head snapped up, and Shinji recoiled. In alleys, in dimly lit cars, and in the shadows of the streets last night, not even once had he seen his uncle's face clearly. He had known it was...disfigured, but he wasn't prepared for the reality. His left eye was a milky white, and stared off slightly to the upper left. It bore more resemblance to the eyes of a corpse left to rot than the eye of a living human. The rest of his face was scarcely better. Rope-like tendons that had no business being in a face at all stood out in stark relief under his skin. His features were pulled and twisted into a mockery of human expression and his hair, what little he could see under the hood was a stark white. Only the right side of his face, and that distant, yet familiar voice he remembered would clue him in that this wretch was indeed his uncle.

And yet... That right side, that half-face which still looked human gave him the greater pause. The mouth was clenched in a grimace and the one remaining eye _burned, _with...passion? Anger? He couldn't place it, but from the moment he'd met it, it felt like he'd been pinned to the wall. Every part of him stripped and torn apart, laid bare in judgment and found wanting. It hurt. He didn't know how it hurt. He felt no pain. There was no injury, but something in him _hurt _to see that.

The silence stretched out for several long, uncomfortable moments before the look in Kariya's eye faded, his face schooled itself into a more passive expression and Shinji realized he'd stopped breathing.

"Ah- um" He hesitated. It was scary. His uncle was scary. Whatever had been in his mind was gone. He vaguely recalled wanting something. Now he mostly wanted _out_, but that would mean turning his back. "Where..." he started but his voice failed him.

Kariya, for his part reminded himself again that Shinji was a _child_. For all that he looked it, hell for all that he sounded like his brother in his childhood, the child was not his brother. He shouldn't react like that.

So, he ignored the pain that had flared up in the early hours of the morning, and had sent him gasping and quivering into a fetal position in the corner. It wasn't as hard as it should have been. Less pain than usual maybe. Or maybe he was just getting used to it after however many weeks.

"We're at the house of some friends." Sort of. Technically. He had no idea who these people actually _were. _Presumably they owed favors to people who owed favors to him. He'd cashed in every friend, every favor, every piece of cash he'd ever earned in this attempt. He'd lost track of who exactly would be doing what at some point. Just a list of safe houses to go to, and the desperate hope Zouken couldn't track them. "We'll go see Sakura soon."

He'd been thinking overnight. Shinji was unplanned for. He was never meant to be brought on this escape. Unlike Sakura, Shinji did not need to be saved. That said, he'd been thinking, and perhaps there could be some use for the boy after all. He'd originally planned to mostly move with Sakura, barring this first trip. But having another child...there were problems. There were loads of problems. But moving in two groups opened up the way for a degree of misinformation. Another layer of safety.

"Ah." The boys voice quavered. Kariya suspected he didn't know how obvious his fear was. He didn't _like _scaring a little boy. But fear could buy silence, and right now one word out of place could spell doom. Provided he didn't overplay it, and send him screaming.

"I-I want to know why." Shinji asked. Not quite what Kariya was expecting.

"I already told you. It's not safe at your house. We need to hide for a few days. You can go back home soon." Kariya replied.

The child glared at him again. Kariya briefly entertained the idea that the child's default facial expression was a glare; he seemed to do it so often, even while clearly frightened.

"No. I mean why do we need to hide? Couldn't grandfather protect us? He's supposed to be a really incredible magus! So...why do we need to run?"

Kariya's heart thawed towards the child for just a moment. The clear awe in his voice when he spoke of Zouken was in it's own way heart-wrenching. If he knew about Zouken and the family history as being Magi, he almost certainly thought he would be heir to that legacy. The blow dealt from discovering the truth about that would be harsh. Learning the truth about the monster he had for a grandfather would scarce be better. Telling the child about his heritage at all had been a cruelty.

Of course, that same awe meant he could not trust the child. Not nearly. Still, he needed an answer.

"Shinji" he sighed, flailing around for an answer. At last he settled on something passable. "You need to understand Shinji, that your grandfather is _old. _He knows many things, and can accomplish much, but what magi, real magi, do can never be called easy. Nor is your grandfather in good health. So, he can certainly protect himself, but if I left you and Sakura with him, I do not believe it would end happily."

He stared at the child for a few more moments, frustrated at the lack of understanding in his eyes. He needed something to make him understand how dangerous their situation was, without understanding why this was so. Maybe it was time to take a gamble.

"And...Shinji. You have a sister to take care of now." The boy opened his mouth to protest, but Kariya rolled right over him. "Do you know what happens when someone finds out about magecraft who shouldn't?" he asked quietly. The boy stiffened, before slowly nodding. "Good. It's good to remember what can happen when people are careless. Or pressed beyond their limits."

Ah. There it was. Not quite horror, not quite understanding, but something in the boys head had just taken a shift. It would do.

* * *

It was hours later, and Shinji was feeling...contemplative. Things had happened but it was all strange. Or maybe it was normal for hiding? The people in the house seemed to pretend they couldn't see him. Uncle Kariya promised if they could remain hidden for a few more days, things would change.

They'd gone to see Sakura earlier. She was quiet. Shinji thought she was scared, and had teased her about it, but she'd just gone all silent, and apologized. Teasing was no fun if the other person just clammed up, so he'd let it go. It was still _weird _having a sister. Everyone kept telling him he had to be a good older brother. He had to protect her. Or look out for her. Or...whatever big brothers did. And of course he would. He was the heir of Matou, so he couldn't let himself be less than an exemplary brother.

It's just...shouldn't he actually feel something about it? He _wanted _to be fond of her, if only because that's what a good brother did. As it was she was a chore. Not an unpleasant one per se, but there was no actual affection there. He knew this wasn't how siblings were supposed to be. He just didn't know how to make it right. So for the moment, Fulfill A Brother's Duties was just another item on the checklist in his head, along side Brush Your Teeth and Study For Tests.

In the end Uncle Kariya had said something about how they had to stay mobile. He'd dropped Shinji back off, and sped off somewhere with Sakura, with a comment about how he'd be back later tonight. Shinji supposed he should be more upset about that. As it was he was just annoyed, and _bored_. The people here avoided him, and ignored him, like they were pretending he didn't exist. It irritated him, but Uncle had said there was a reason for it, so he couldn't do anything.

So he was alone, with nothing to do, and a vague sense of unease anytime he tried to go anywhere in the house other than the one room he had spent the night before in. People looking past you like you weren't there, but obviously aware because _they had just walked around you_. Snorting at his own feelings of frustration and boredom, he cast about for something to do, feeling distinctly cooped up.

Hiding sucked he concluded. It was so _boring. _Well except for the bit with the running and clandestine meetings. But even those were mostly getting into strange cars, and going to odd places, and not really understanding why. The rest of the time it was just hanging around, and trying to stay out of sight.

He wished he'd thought to hold on to that book when Kariya had come for them. Some reading would at least pass the time, and truth be told he kept finding his thoughts drifting back to the dusty Matou library. He'd only just started in on it. He supposed he could read some of the books in this house, but after reading tomes of actual magic, other books just didn't seem to hold the same allure. It would be like sucking on the wrapper to recall the actual candy you didn't have anymore.

So he was bored, and he had nothing to do in the house, and he was tired of being cooped up, and technically no one had _told _him he couldn't leave...

* * *

Ten minutes later he had snuck out, and was wandering down the street, not quite sure what to do with himself. He hadn't thought as far as what to actually do, and in this suburban, residential neighborhood...well there didn't seem to be a lot _to_do. Just dark, empty streets. Still better than staring at the wall, but not that engaging. Maybe he could find an all night convenience store and get something to eat?

This thought in mind he found himself wandering down the streets. He wasn't, he admitted, particularly certain of where the nearest such store was, but it was largely an excuse in the first place. For the moment he just headed in whichever direction the horizon seemed brightest, figuring that way headed more towards the heart of the city as opposed to this semi-suburban area, and thus increased his chances of finding things like convenience stores. He nodded to himself, proud of coming up with such reasoning when he saw it. A quick, darting _writhing_shape in the darkness. It streaked towards him low to the ground, moving in a strange, fluid gait, bunching up, then springing forward, but never seeming to actually slow down. It was...was...

Was that a ferret? He squinted at it in the darkness. It was the right size and shape, but what was a ferret doing out here and what was it-  
_'Run away!'_  
Eh?  
_'Hurry! You have to run!'_  
Shinji blinked. Telepathy? There was no way. Besides what was he running fr-

It wasn't a roar. It wasn't a screech. The sudden, surging, formless mass that he had mistaken for shadows behind the ferret made not one single sound as it opened it's jaws in a silent pantomime of lesser beasts. But his bones reverberated to it. His heart immediately ratcheted up it's beat, and ice water coursed down his spine. His ears rang from the sound they didn't hear, and he staggered as the not-sound rippled out with a force that caused the street light overhead to shatter, sparking and sputtering before plunging the narrow street into a deeper gloom.

Deciding the disembodied voice had the right idea, Shinji scrambled backwards, trying desperately not to trip as he turned, and began lurching forward. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Monsters didn't just swarm out of the dark. Only he knew they did. That was the problem with being a Magi. Even untrained, with unawoken circuits, and having only studied enough to just barely understand the challenges that lay before him, Shinji knew now, that there _were_monsters lurking in the dark. Most of them were other magi.

But this! What was this? It wasn't _right_. Monsters like this legitimately didn't lurk in the dark of random suburbs. Monsters like this were out of the way of cities and villages, or at least kept on a chain by whatever magi had it's service.  
_  
'Left!'_

Shinji didn't bother to question it. He veered left down the side street. His eyes immediately transmitted pain. There was something painfully bright ahead of them, but in a choice between an oncoming car, and whatever was behind him...the car might stop. He knew in his gut the silently screaming horror behind them wouldn't.

As if thinking it brought it on again, the world pulsed in another exquisitely silent scream. His organs seemed to freeze up, his gut clenched, his vision blurred. For a moment he couldn't breathe, he couldn't remember where he was, what he was doing, his muscles seized up and he forgot everything. Then it was over, and he was Matou Shinji again. His legs weren't in the right positions anymore. His foot landed wrong, and he stumbled. He couldn't recover, his limbs responded sluggishly. His legs caught on each other, and his botched recovery turned into a wild scramble on all fours. The ferret overtook him, dashing off into the eye-searing light ahead.

He crawled forward. He couldn't stop. If he stopped he'd die. Well, as it was on arms and knees he'd die anyway, but he didn't want to. So he tried to rise to his legs without slowing down, and only ended up throwing himself to the ground again. He could all but feel that mass about to hit him. To crush him. To smash his bones and smear his organs across the street.

_'Get down!'_

He didn't need to try to obey. It happened on it's own as fear robbed him of his last hope of rising and he collapsed prone on the ground. Immediately the world was dyed an eye-searing pink. This time there was a sound. Not the vast roaring one would expect. No tremendous crackling, consumptive sound as one would expect. Just a sound of motion, implying power unopposed, the sound of a vast wind that would flatten all before it, blowing across an empty field with nothing to test it's might against.

_Then _there was sound, and fury. Whatever it was behind him was struck. It was seared and burned away, reduced to it's component energies and scattered beyond recollection. Shinji never saw the attack that did it. His eyes were screwed shut as it passed over him. He remained as such for a few moment after the light dimmed, and the sound faded.

"Sealing Mode! Seal!"

He immediately curled up into a little ball, and waited for the new light-show to end. When he raised his head again, his immediate fear prompted him to spin to look at his attacker, the shapeless monstrosity that had erupted from where shapeless monstrosities should not be. There was nothing. There was nothing at all, not even a smear on the ground or walls, for all that it had taken up the full width of the street.

No. Wait. There was something. So dark he had almost missed it in the gloom. A glimmering speck, smaller than the palm of his hand bobbed gently in mid-air. The glimmer increased, and Shinji crawled to his knees, prepared to run again, when it moved. Not the strange asynchronous movement the beast had displayed, it instead, with little fuss moved in a smooth arc over, and past Shinji, who whipped around to follow it's arc to...

What the hell?

It was a girl. About his age, dressed in white raiment, and with some sort of staff tipped with a red gem. The ferret was sitting on her shoulder. No way. No way. The _first _thing his father had done, when he had learned he was heir to a legacy of thaumaturgy was to sit him down and disabuse him of flights of fancy like magical girls or heroes from manga. Readings from the library had only supported this. Magic wasn't that generous. Such an existence couldn't be. So he couldn't be looking at any sort of magical girl.

He clambered to his feet, brain freewheeling. She couldn't be a magical girl (not that girls could not be magical. But the fantasies of manga and comic books were not an existence magecraft could support, nor was such undignified use something magi would have allowed), so what was she? He staggered as he got up, noting the dark speck disappear into the staff. Strange. She had used magic. So she had to be a magi. It was that simple.

Therefore, the dress and the staff and the ferret weren't the trappings of a manga heroine. Ceremonial garb, a mystic code, and a familiar, made more – No. She was young. There were geniuses in this world he knew, but to have their own familiar, their own mystic code at this age? There was no way. So she wasn't a magi. Not fully trained at least. She was an apprentice doing...something. Watched over by her master's familiar, with items crafted for the task by her master. Yes. That made more sense.

He wanted to talk to her.

He was the heir to Matou, even if he hadn't started his real training yet. He had read. When he had been told of his heritage, been allowed into Matou's hidden library he had devoured books, drank knowledge in like water. He couldn't say he retained it all, but it was something he had never seen before. A confirmation that his life would have more meaning than to be heir to a slowly decaying family of old money, which in truth, never seemed to have as much money laying around as the large house implied. But for all that he had been delighted, he soon found his delight tempered with frustration. His grandfather was tied up in his apparently delicate experiments, his father hadn't inherited his talent, and so could only speak second-hand. His uncle had the talent, but had left the house over...something. Shinji had never spoken with an actual magus before. He knew academically what it could and would involve, but he had no idea what it was _like._

And now here was another magi, an apprentice in front of him. How could he _not _sate his curiosity?

* * *

Takamichi Nanoha was mortified. This wasn't supposed to happen. The barriers were supposed to keep people out. To keep them safe, while she and Yuuno could seal the Jewel Seeds. And tonight she'd almost hit a boy head on, just because she was jumpy, and knew she'd only have one shot. People shouldn't get hurt, just because she had a hair trigger!

_'Nanoha!'_

"Eeh? Yuuno! Is he alright? I mean I didn't want to hurt him but the Seed came around the corner so fast and I thought if I missed it _this_time we'd never get it and then it would get out of the barrier and it could maybe hurt a lot of people and -"

_'Nanoha!'_

The telepathic reprimand cut her off mid-babble. Yuuno was right. She couldn't panic. If she were to panic here and now then there could be problems.

"Ah, uhm. What should we do Yuuno?" she whispered quietly. The boy was climbing to his feet, and had turned to look at her, but his eyes had gone out of focus. "Do you think he got hit on the head? He looks pretty woozy."

_'Hmm. I don't think so. He might just be in shock. It's probably for the best if we leave. He'll probably write this whole thing off as his imagination if we don't leave him any proof.'_

"Uhm, are you really supposed to leave someone in shock all alone like that?" she wondered quietly

_'Normally no, but we can't risk word about magic getting out. Entire civilizations have torn themselves apart in the past from an untimely discovery. Besides if he can walk he should be able to make it back home, or at least find help.'_

It didn't seem right to her, leaving a boy like that after what had just happened. But maybe Yuuno was right. He had told her more than once, about how advanced magic introduced into worlds with very little of it had resulted in the past. People who wanted power would try to grab all the good magic users, and fights would break out over them. Since there was nothing else like magic, people would do anything to get their hands on the new magic. Crimes and sometimes even wars broke out, and even without that all the cultural change would sometimes tear a society apart all by itself.

She didn't think it was likely one person using magic could trigger all that, but maybe it was best to be careful?

"I...I suppose so." she muttered at last. It still wasn't right to leave him staggering in the street. But it was the better option. That didn't mean she liked it.

_'Un. Let's go then, Nanoha.'_

She stepped back, away from the boy, and prepared to leap away. Magic had its perks, and at the very least it was good for quick exits.

"W-wait! Are you a magi as well!? You are! You have to be! That couldn't have been anything other than magecraft." The cry stopped her cold.

_'Nanoha...'_

"Yeah. He did." she answered, looking at Yuuno with wide eyes, answering the question he hadn't asked yet.

_'...did he say "as well"? ' _Yuuno completed the thought anyway.

There was a moment of silence between them, mutually hovering on the edge of indecision.

_'Maybe we better hear what he has to say.'_ Yuuno suggested at last.

* * *

**A/N: My first foray into fanfiction. There's some deviance from canon throughout, especially regarding details from Fate/Zero, but I think that's just part and parcel of the whole crossover thing.**

**I'm sure in the future I'll have more intelligible notes in the future, but for now I guess this is it.**


	2. Chapter 2

"_W-wait! Are you a magi as well!? You are! You have to be! That couldn't have been anything other than magecraft."_

'Maybe we better hear what he has to say.'

In the dark street the boy and girl looked at one another. A frozen tableau for a moment. She wasn't sure what to say or do.

"Ah, er, uhm." Yes. Very smooth. Certainly stirring words by which to remember her first introduction to a real mage. "Ah! Um! Yes! I'm a mage!"

"Awa, amazing!"

Eh?

_Careful Nanoha._

_Yuuno...?_

_Be careful what you say to him._

"Um um..." Nanoha was a bit flustered "Amazing? Didn't...didn't you just say you were a mage as well?"

"Ah! Right! Yes. I'm the heir to the great Matou family!" he said, his chest puffing up, and his nose in the air.

"Eh? Really? Your entire family all have magic!?"

The simple question seemed to immediately deflate the boy.

"Ah, well no. My adopted sister doesn't know about magecraft at all of course. Umm, and I think it passed over my father...Ah! But! He's a scholar! He might not be able to _do _magecraft, but he knows more about it than most real magi ever will!" the boy rallied.

"Does that mean he taught you how to do magic he can't do himself?"

The boy immediately deflated again "Ah, well ummm... not yet. But he will! I just have to activate my magic circuits first!"

_'Umm...magic...circuits...?'_

_'Likely a local name for the Linker Core.'_ supplied Yuuno _'It's a non-physical organ within you that let's you perform magic. Many people need some sort of outside stimuli to properly access it for the first time. In your case Raising Heart did the job. Perhaps his family has something different to do the job?'_

"Ah! Well ummm.." Nanoha trailed off. It was strange. She was meeting another mage! Shouldn't it be a big momentous occasion? As it was they were both just staring at each other, not quite sure what to say. She didn't know anything about what mages were like. Well, she _was_ a mage, but she was new to it. And had been taught by a ferret. That probably wasn't normal. But then again maybe it was? You heard stories sometimes where mages and wizards had familars so maybe it was normal? Ah, but the boy didn't have a familiar and he was a mage. Oh but he'd said he hadn't properly started yet so maybe he just didn't have his ferret yet? And speaking of that if he hadn't started yet did that mean most mages didn't start until later...

"Ah. What...what _was_ all that?"

"Eh?" She blinks at the question as her train of thought derails. "Oh um! It was-"

_'Nanoha!'_

_'Eh? Yuuno...?'_

_'Don't tell him what the jewel seeds can do.'_

_'But- He almost got hurt because of us! Doesn't he at least deserve the truth?'_

There was a pause for a moment, the boy looking at her expectantly

_'Nanoha, it's just...if you told people that there were magical jewels with the power to grant a wish hidden across the city, even if you warned them that they were very dangerous, wouldn't they try to find them? Even if it's to make a precious wish come true, the Jewel Seeds aren't from this place. No one here would know how to seal them, or use them safely.'_

_'Ah but his family...'_

_'Nanoha...I know it's selfish of me. I shouldn't be asking for your help at all. I wish I didn't have to but please, especially don't tell this boy. If there are mages in hiding in this place, they still don't know enough to safely handle the Jewel Seeds...and are even less likely to listen if we warn them.'_

"I-I'm sorry." she muttered, suddenly looking at the ground. "They...they are precious things that someone important lost. That person asked for my help and taught me lots of things so I have to find them."

_'Nanoha...I'm sorry.'_

"Ah? So they are important then?" the boy asked cautiously, looking perplexed by her sudden shift in mood.

"Umm, I'm sorry. But I really can't say anymore..." she winced a little. This wasn't _right_. He had nearly died. Maybe he didn't realize it. Maybe it didn't register but...because she had been panicked and fired at the first thing around the corner, he had been put in danger. Now not even answering his questions...it just didn't sit well.

"I- I should go." she muttered.

As she turned to go, she saw it. The boys face darkened, from bright eyed, friendly, to clouded with anger, confusion, a hint of pain.

"Wha..? Wait! What do you mean!? I- I'm a magi too! I can help! So...tell me!" he cried out.

Nanoha wanted to answer him. Wanted to ask him. Wanted to know what he knew. But...Yuuno was right. If she told him, if he told even his father, or his mother or anyone wouldn't they do something dangerous? Still... didn't she owe him at least something? Even if she wasn't sure everything could be fine, couldn't she at least assure him he didn't need to worry?

"Mou, don't worry, there's no way I'd ask someone like you for help."

And like that she was gone, Flier Flin letting her bound out and away in moments, up and across the roofline, where the boy couldn't follow.

_'I know it doesn't feel right Nanoha, but that really was the right thing to do.'_

_'He deserved more than that Yuuno. And...I'd like to know more about the mages on Earth.'_

_'Yeah, he did. However telling him about the Jewel Seeds... you heard him. He might know _about_ magic, but he can't do any yet. If he told his elders they would try to solve the situation themselves, and if he didn't, then he doesn't have any of the necessary spells to do anything and may trigger a Seed in his attempts to help. Either way people are put in danger.'_

* * *

_"There's no way I'd ask someone like you for help."_

The words seemed to echo through the street, as Shinji whipped his head back and forth. He'd seen her leap away, beyond the roofline, knew she wasn't there to find, but he searched anyway, part of him utterly unwilling to let it end on that note.

He clenched his teeth, and growled in frustration. He was just an apprentice, but...but she couldn't be much further! He was heir to the Matou family! As soon as he unlocked his circuits and Grandfather bestowed the family crest on him he would advance so quickly that even with the help of a familiar, and whatever items her master had outfitted her with there would be no way she could keep up!

That she would just dismiss him so out of hand was... He wanted to hit something. He wanted to scream and smash something. He was better than her. He would be. He had to be. So why should she turn him down when he deigned to aid her? She had no reason! That he still couldn't use magic shouldn't matter! He had all but slept in the library since father had recalled him. He knew things _about_ magecraft she could never guess! There was no way he wouldn't be of more use than anything she had!

He grit his teeth as the image of a rushing _something_ glowing bright enough to light up the street like the noonday sun treacherously surfaced in his mind. He couldn't do that. He didn't know about any magecraft that could do things like that.

He shook his head resolutely. No. He was the heir to a great family of Magi. That he had offered to help at all was practically an honor. Her refusing couldn't be anything other than an insult. Unless...

Unless she didn't _know_ about the Matou family? Magi were comparatively rare in Japan, so there shouldn't be that many names that went unknown. Maybe...

He smiled. That was it.

She was just someone with the good fortune to luck into a good set of circuits. Her teacher was probably some two bit hack who couldn't produce a heir of their own. She herself had no talent. The very fact she was so well outfitted was a vote of no confidence in her natural abilities. There was no other way she wouldn't know who the Matou were if she had a _real_ background in magecraft.

He breathed out slowly. Of course. It was no different than a beggar not recognizing a politician. The fault lay on the beggar yes, but it was no reason for the greater man to become upset. Yeah. In truth, what she did might have been flashy, but it wasn't _great_. She hadn't shown the certainty, the spine, the - the _poise_ of a true magus. She was nothing to worry about.

So why did he remember a horrible thing that wasn't a sound, but still so sapped his strength that he couldn't even keep on his feet? And even through that he had still glimpsed, for just a fraction of a second, a girl standing firm. She wasn't as close as he was. It couldn't have hit her as hard. But it remained. He had fallen. She had not. All he could do before that was to run. She had defeated the...whatever it was.

He stood for a moment staring into the dark, thoughts churning. There was no way she could be a better magus than him. Just one who started earlier. But...he hadn't started at all yet had he? He snarled, and spun on his heel, stomping his way back down the street, all thoughts of boredom, of getting out of the house and away from his uncle forgotten.

* * *

Yuuno was suspicious. How could he not be?

It was strange really. This planet had so _few_ mages, or so it seemed. Unadministered Worlds generally fell into a few categories. Sometimes it was political, the planet for one reason or another refusing to come under the umbrella of the Time Space Administration Bureau, and all the assorted advantages it could bring. In others the culture was insufficiently advanced, and introduction of advanced Bureau level magic & technology would result in significant upheaval, chaos, even wars.

It was _true_ that Administered World generally had a higher count of mages per capita, but that was mostly due to more advanced capacities to recognize people with magical potential. It was a comparatively small percentage of magic-users that would spontaneously access their magic after all. In the majority of cases the first use of power had to be induced with outside help. Less advanced worlds didn't have as much capacity to recognize the untapped potential of most of their population, so many mages never really fufilled their potential.

But while it was true that spontaneous users were not _as_ common as those who would need outside help, they were by no means vanishingly rare. He himself was one. That this world seemingly had _no_ recognized mages was unprecedented. The pattern was well established in history. Before a world learned to properly detect or awaken their latent mages, the naturally active mages tended to...well it rather depended on the prevailing culture. They could be perceived as priests or kings or prophets. Sometimes they were thought to be cursed, and were persecuted. Those worlds generally needed gentle intervention before they could ever get on the path of joining the umbrella of security and prosperity the Bureau provided. The one thing all those worlds had in common was that in that stage, mages were seldom if ever a subtle facet of society. Until it became truly commonplace, those naturally occurring mages almost inevitably made a big splash in some fashion.

But this world lacked that. Entirely. It was a little eerie really. So when that child claimed to be a who hadn't properly accessed his Linker Core just yet, he was skeptical. The planet showed no indication of having the sophistication necessary to recognize latent ability. Well, that was to be expected, considering it's complete lack of any advancement in the field of magic. At the same time the idea that magic on this planet was so incredibly rare as to have no natural users at all bordered on the absurd.

He sighed, and tossed restlessly in the basket Nanoha had provided for him to sleep in. This had all seemed so much simpler when he had first come. Collect the Jewel Seeds, don't let anyone else be put in danger because of his mistakes, then leave. And then he'd been careless and reckless and all sorts of other -lesses, and he'd had to drag in a local girl who happened to have some potential. Okay a lot of potential if her advancement was anything to go by. She still shouldn't have to bear his burden. She had no idea about magic, or the vast body of the Time Space Administration Bureau or...so, so much. And he wasn't sure when he could work that into her education. Or if he should.

He peered over the edge of the basket to check on the girl. Asleep in her bed. Good. She was still so new to all this. Tonight was the third Jewel Seed she'd sealed. And the second active one after that first terrifying night. He was worried he'd run her ragged. He sighed again. If only he hadn't had to call for help. If only he'd come better prepared. If only he'd been more cautious about how he'd shipped the Jewel Seeds in the first place. An endless of cascade of "if only" leading back to he didn't know where. Birth maybe.

Yeah. This had definitely been simpler when he first came. He'd fouled that up though, so now Nanoha had to carry his weight. And it hurt so much to deny her the help that boy offered. He didn't _want_ her to have to take up his burden, but it would be far, far worse to let it fall by the wayside until he recovered enough on his own.

He still didn't know what to think of that boy, with his impossible story. Even if he was a mage, and his family could somehow tell this without any of the requisite infrastructure, why the delay in activating his Linker Core? Why no public mages? Maybe this world had a history of magic persecution and they were all in hiding? But no one even seemed to _believe_ in magic.

If only the kid had _done_ something. If he had shown the ability to use magic, however small then Yuuno would...well he would still be cautious. The power of the Jewel Seeds was tempting if you didn't understand them. They certainly had the raw power to grant any wish he could think of. But guiding that power, directing it would be like trying to hold back the tide with your bare hands. He understood, but on this planet, unconnected with the Bureau, without the history and records of disasters caused by careless handling of Lost Logia? No one else would. They'd covet the Jewel Seeds and unleash disaster.

If the boy really was a mage, then unless Yuuno could convince him to listen to him, instead of his elders, he just simply couldn't trust him. It was a shame he thought. They could have really done with a friend in a situation like this.

All the worse because Nanoha seemed delighted to meet another mage. Sad, upset she couldn't take him up on his offer. Distressed that she had to isolate herself. But Yuuno could tell through all that; a simple joy in discovering she wasn't alone. That there were other people like her.

* * *

It smelled like rotten meat. This was expected. It always smelled like rotten meat here. It was dark. This too was expected. It was always dark here. And at the edges of his vision things writhed in the shadows. This was not expected, but was still not so strange as to elicit a reaction. It merely meant that whatever currently held Zouken's attention was interesting enough to warrant a reaction. Byakuya was years past caring. About any of it.

There could, he knew, be such a thing as a secret from the worm-magus of this house. His brother had managed to keep his intent to leave a secret in their youth. That said, he was certain that his coming into this pit beneath the house was just another in a long line of trials. Byakuya believed Zouken could hear every word he breathed at all points in the house. His presence down here was just a formality made to give the impression that this was a conversation between humans.

He never did _quite_ see Zouken arrive anywhere down here. Above the stairs, the worm-magus would go through the motions, behave as the old man he appeared to be. Down here, one simply noticed that the ever-present writhing just beyond the borders of what the eye could clearly discern had drawn back, perhaps a sharp eye might pick out hints, of a greater, shapeless, shifting mass in the dark. On approach, they would find the worm-magus waiting there for them. So it went everywhere down here. If you left the worm-magus company, if he directed you elsewhere, you would not see him, until you arrived, where you would find him there before you, waiting. Or disobeyed and went elsewhere, in which case you would also find him. There before you. Waiting.

So when the darkness disgorged the wrinkled old man, hunched over a cane, and gazing down into a pit of writhing worms as though the shapeless chaos below held all the answers in the world, he was not particularly surprised.

They stood there for a moment. The worm-magus thoughts unknowable. Byakuya simply uncaring.

"Hmmph. The result was unusual." the old man mused.

Byakuya remained silent. Was there something in the pit the worms clustered around? A center to that heaving chaos?

"Keh. Well, there is something to be had from what's left." A slow, deliberate blink. A silence stretching out a heartbeat too long. "Hoh? Not even a word for your elder? How times have fallen. Well, I am a generous man, and shall not hold your disrespect against you."

Byakuya blinked, and settled back on his heels.

"It's absence serves no further purpose. Go, and bring it back for these old bones." The old magus continued on "I should not expect it to be immediately needed, but do not tarry long, it would not do to allow it overmuch exposure to uncontrolled environs, but nor for others to covet it."

Byakuya gazed with lidded eyes for a handful of moments before he half turned away. Casting a single look back at the old magus he waited for a space of heartbeats.

"Oh? Is this an awakening of parental concern I see?"The old magus' voice is tinged with something that approximates amusement. "Heh. As you prefer then. I scarcely care, save that you do not allow it to slow what actually matters."

Byakuya did not respond, save to complete his exit, walking back the way he came with measured steps. In the dark, the worms writhed. There was much to do.

* * *

It was too early to see improvement. He didn't have the time it would take for there to be improvement. He knew that. It didn't make it any less disappointing to see her like that.

Others saw a quiet and shy little girl. Kariya could only see a girl who had retreated so far into her shell that there was barely a hint of who she once was. She could, just about, hold it in front of others. Something in her wouldn't break down, crying and screaming over what had been done to her. Perhaps she once had, in the beginning. But he was too late for that. Too late to save her. Even now he knew. He had been too late.

But if failing was an unforgivable sin, then not making the attempt went beyond sin. So he searched. There would be a shuffle. A new home every few nights. He had no hope of throwing off the search that was coming. But maybe he could keep the distance open long enough for a miracle. That's what it came down to. What he wished for could not be realized, so all he could do was to pin his hopes on a miracle. After all, what could one call the achievement of an impossible event other than a miracle?

But right now he could stiffly pull a little girl into a one armed hug. He could promise her that everything would be okay. He could lie to her, tell her that she was safe, give her a little comfort, and tell himself that every moment she is away is a small thing he has given her. He can never do enough to make up for his failure.

The girl doesn't respond. He doesn't know if it would be better or worse if she did. To see her smile, to see her laugh, to see her cry, to see her scream. It would be sweetest agony. To know that she is still that little girl he once knew, daughter of a woman that he- NO.

He threw that thought away. It would not be. To dwell on it would destroy him. He needed no further help for that. He had sealed his own destruction already. No further aid would be required.

After some time he releases the one armed hug, and stands back up. The girl stares blankly at him. She had been...lively when with the boy. Not herself precisely, but at least acting like a shy girl of her age. Was it an act? If so why? She didn't keep it up around him. Not that he could blame her. He wouldn't spare the effort for someone who had failed him so thoroughly.

He smiled gently. She is not alright. She won't _be_ alright without some serious help. Help he has no way to give her. He doesn't even know what would be needed. No idea who would be willing. Who would be _capable_.

"Sakura. I will make this right. Do not worried."

It's all he can say.

The girl stares at him. He feels a spasm start, and viciously suppresses it. Now is not the time. The gem may have been greater than anticipated. It still burns in his gut, a tiny searing pain. He had expected it to slowly taper off and diminish. So far it had burned steadily. The worms were not quiescent. Not nearly. He was still racked by spasms, bouts of confusion, other less savory side effects. But they were not so bad as they were prior to the gem. He could still think through the pain.

The girl eventually draws back. The room was not large. The lighting is poor. Bluntly speaking it's a store room. She'll sleep here tonight. And elsewhere the night after. And the night after that. And so on, until it all comes crashing down. Or they receive a miracle.

He doesn't want to leave her alone. But there are people nearby who...well, who he does not know. But they are trusted by people that he trusts. And he suspects that she is safer away from him. A gamble, believing her less likely to be found if she is not with him, but if she his, he won't be there to protect her. A sin he already committed once.

Three days. In three days, greater help will be available. A man he does not know, but with the connections to do what he cannot. He never expected to make it that long, and he knows that in the end it will not matter. But even if it is a false promise, a forlorn hope, it is a hope nonetheless.

He turns to go, favoring her with a smile from the half of his face not yet ruined.

"Uncle..." the girl mumbles

He pauses, his attention on her. She seems to struggle for a moment, wrestling with herself, but eventually her words come to her again.

"Why?" she asks.

Kariya stared for moment, waiting for more. Why did this happen to her? Why did they come here? Why did he leave her? But nothing was forthcoming. It seemed her question was more encompassing than that.

"Because Sakura..." he said casting about for an answer. The truth was not so simple as to be something he could tell a girl so young. He needed something that would calm her, reassure her.

"...because failure isn't so bad as not trying."

Not what she wanted to hear. Not what she needed to hear. But it had been all that came to his mind. Her eyes showed no light of recognition, no satisfaction. She merely turned, and quietly walked to the padded up bedding prepared for her.

He stared at her for a few moments, cursing his lack of eloquence, before leaving.

The walk back was long, and it had started to drizzle lightly. He considered obscuring his way back, taking a circuitous route, ducking through alleys and unlit streets. Then dismissed it. If they tracked him from _here_ then what was the point? It would be like locking the door after the vault has already been looted.

It was perhaps an hour later when he arrived back in the house he was to spend the night in, now thoroughly wet. The occupants ignored him. Not the politest way to handle having guests they did not wish to speak of, but so long as it did not endanger Sakura or himself he couldn't summon up the energy to care.

He made his way to the backroom on the second floor. On the way he noticed...patterns. A patch of potting soil on the floor, where a potted plant had once stood. A few fragments of porcelain where he knew a lamp was. Little signs of damage cleaned up. Perhaps he had not been imagining it when it seemed the occupants were a tad colder than usual.

If the boy was endangering them, engendering the kind of ill will that would encourage loose tongues in their wake... he had set out to save _one_ child. That plan could be restored. He had no illusions that the family would care. But matters could be arranged so that the family at least had to be seen to divert resources towards finding their heir. Another way to split their attention in his advantage, even if it would reveal his general location. Not that he expected it to be unknown anyway.

He opened up the door, and looked into the largely empty room. The lamp in the middle of the floor remained where it was. The futons as well, though they were missing the sheets. And there was the boy, still damp and wrapped up in a sheet in the corner.

On his entry the head snapped up, and he was treated to a new glare. An expression he was growing tired of. But no accusation was in that stare now. In it's place...Judgement? From such a child. Kariya was all but bent double under the weight of his failures he admitted, but he was not yet prepared to entertain such from the boy.

He fixed the boy with a glare of his own, and was surprised when it failed to have the effect it so clearly had this morning. The boy wasn't cowed, and he didn't scowl. He just continued to stare at him with gimlet eyes.

"Uncle." the boy said, voice pitched half between pleading and commanding. "Teach me magecraft."

He had to admit, he had not been expecting that.

* * *

**A/N: So a second chapter. I am somewhat less confident about this one.**

**Just a few notes I guess:**

**1 - The time between the first chapter and this one is not indicative of an update schedule. I had the first one written for ages before I posted it. I work sporadically at best, so I can't make any promises about any sort of update schedule.**

**2 - While I predict this is eventually going to explode into full AU, at the moment I have to admit somewhat limited familiarity with some aspects of canon. I find Kariya's head hard to get into, so I'm never sure if I write him convincingly. I am currently going over all the various episodes, routes and so on of both canons again and plan to go back over it all again and again for so long as I feel I need to, but there are certain works (primarily on the Nanoha side) I never saw in the first place. Mostly the movies, soundstages, etc. etc. I intend to go over these after I'm done going over the main seasons and other sources again, but until then if you see something blatantly in violation of canon ****_do_**** tell me. Please. If I find out my entire plot is based upon a misunderstanding of canon I missed I will be sad. **

**3 - I'm using the FF recommended line things for scene seperators, but I have to admit I almost miss them myself when re-reading this. Is determining when the scene has changed enough of a problem that I should look into using some other delimiter, or does this work for...anyone who care to read this I guess?  
**

**Umm...I guess that's it?**


End file.
